


Archimedes

by thegunnerxo



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Multi, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-05
Updated: 2015-09-05
Packaged: 2018-04-19 03:06:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4730564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thegunnerxo/pseuds/thegunnerxo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Don't you remember what Archimedes said before he died? 'Don't disturb my circles.' He wanted to make everything work the way it was—don't disturb the circles we've made, okay?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"Answer me something, Ber," Tino Väinämöinen murmured over a mug of coffee, crossing his ankles in the small café chair.

"Hn?" Berwald—only Tino called him Ber—Oxenstierna grunted in response.

"You and I are normal, and Emil and Lukas are **something** , but then why is Mathias so..." The doors flew open with a gust of cold wind, three blond haired people ducking in and quickly adjusting scarves and jackets.

" **YO**! Sve, Finny!" The tallest blond was positively yelling his companions silly nicknames across the café, rain dampening his outrageous hair.

"...so that?" Tino finished, a smile gracing his features anyway. Berwald's eyes stayed on the smile for a heartbeat before flicking to the trio of people who had entered.

"Keep it down, idiot," one of the shorter ones hissed, a gold cross pinning back honey-gold hair. He was rapidly peeling layers off of a sopping wet young man who had to be his brother.

"Nah, they don't care! Guys, it's me!" The tallest of the three continued shouting, waving his arms.

"We noticed," Tino said drily. He rose to embrace them all the same.

"How long have you been waiting?" Lukas Bondevik, the one with the gold pin, asked quietly as he took his seat.

"'Bout twen'y minutes," Berwald rumbled; Lukas nodded.

"Told ya they weren't waitin' long! Steilsson fell in a puddle," Mathias Køhler explained, flopping into the small chair Berwald pulled out.

"I did not **fall** ," the shortest of the trio snapped, shivering like a leaf in the wind. "You pushed me!"

"Oh, no, Emil, are you alright? Don't you have any other clothes?" Tino rose and joined Lukas in fretting over him.

"Stop that! I'm fine," he lied, his teeth clacking together.

"I'm going to ask Laura if she has any clothes for you," Tino said quickly, turning and jogging toward the pretty blond-haired woman at the counter.

"Would you stop touching me?" Emil complained, swatting his older brother away. "I'll warm up."

"Yeah, sorry about that." Mathias did look apologetic, at least enough to soothe Lukas's scowl. Berwald raised his eyebrows silently. "I only pushed him because I didn't see the puddle and I was tryna shake him up a bit," Mathias said sheepishly. "He always makes the same face." The three men at the table who weren't Emil turned to inspect him carefully; each silently agreed with Mathias.

"Okay, here you go, pudding," the blonde woman, Laura, approached the table with a notepad stacked on a pile of clothes. She smiled sweetly as she set the clothes in front of Emil, green eyes dancing in the artificial lighting. "These were my _broeder's_ when he was younger, and I was planning on giving them away anyway. We live right above the café, so we don't have a lot of space."

"Thank you," Emil muttered, grabbing the clothes in his fist and stomping off toward the bathroom. "Don't mind him, Laura," Tino said cheerfully as he reclaimed his seat. "You know teenagers."

"I definitely do, pudding. What does everyone want?" She pulled a pen from her apron and poised it over the pad, raising her eyebrows.

"I'm going to have some of your world-famous hot chocolate, to finish off this coffee; and if I know Berwald, he will too!" Tino glanced at Berwald in approval, smiling. The Swedish man nodded.

"It's hardly world famous," Laura murmured, blushing all the same.

"Chai latte for me, and black tea for the little bro," Lukas sounded bored as he ordered, almost brushing her off. It was a credit to her training at how professional she was being by just jotting down the orders and not questioning the man's rudeness. The bathroom door banged open.

"Don't call me that!" Emil yelled.

"Well, lovely lady, I would like to have a taste of your hot chocolate; if it's half as sweet as you are, I'll wind up with a cavity." Mathias winked at Laura, who blushed darker and tittered.

"You're too much, all five of you. Since it's a slow day, I'll make your drinks personally." She winked right back, setting Mathias into grinning pridefully.

"Idiot, don't go flirting with the waitress. You can't have every girl you meet." Lukas crossed his arms and shot another scowl in the Dane's direction.

"What's wrong, Norgey? You jealous?"

"If you insist with these silly nicknames from the countries we were born in, you'll have to start calling her Bella," Tino interrupted, meeting Mathias's surprised expression with a grin. "She's Belgian."

"Well th'n wha's she doin' here in England?" Berwald asked, eyebrows furrowing.

"Her half-brother went to university here, and she decided to pack up and come with him. Their parents were long since passed and she wanted to open a coffee shop." Tino gestured around the building they currently sat in. "Living the dream."

"Half-brother?" Lukas whispered, resting his head on his hand.

"Oh, it's scandalous indeed. I'll tell you later, she's coming back," Tino hushed him.

"Alrighty, we have a chai latte for the grumpy one," Laura announced, setting the drinks on the table, "a black tea for the shouty one, and three hot chocolates—for the quiet one, the good-looking one, and my darling." She bent with a flourish and kissed Tino's cheek, laughing with him.

"Hey, _kære_ , where's my kiss?" Mathias asked, looking somewhat put-out. Laura smiled coyly.

"Well you'll have to work for it, **dear**." She turned and sashayed away, Mathias's eyes following the sway of her hips.

"How come you get one?" He demanded, switching back to Tino.

"Oh, Laura and I are good friends. She's a bit older, but she wound up taking some night classes I was in in university. We'd come in here after class and stay up late just drinking coffee and plowing through homework. I'm so glad I switched from business," Tino chattered, making a face. "Numbers and statistics are just not for me."

"The shouty one?" Emil said quietly, glaring at his cup. It was written on there, as well, in black sharpie.

"H-hey! She put her number on here!" Mathias said somewhat loudly, spilling chocolate on himself in his rush to prove it. "Signed it and everything!" Lukas made a face and tipped the rest of the hot chocolate onto his lap.

**#**

Tino made a pot of tea while Berwald tried to fix his roommates attempt at an experimental dish.

"Yer not allowed t' cook, ya know tha'," Berwald teased, grimacing at the color the pasta seemed to be turning. He was fairly certain noodles weren't meant to be blue, much less melted to a puddle in the bottom of the pot, but he wasn't sure how the petite Fin had done it.

"I didn't want to drag you from your workshop to cook dinner," Tino explained again, exasperated. "I said I was sorry!"

"Not mad," Berwald told him calmly, squinting into the concoction. Tino pressed his hand lightly to Berwald's wrist, smiling.

"I would've been fed up with me a long time ago."

"Patience is a virtue."

"You have too much for your own good," Tino chastised lightly. With a sigh, he turned off the stove and put the pot in the sink. "How about I just make sandwiches?"

"Good idea." It was an easy rhythm the two had, a downtempo way of life that suited them perfectly. Tino was talkative, Berwald a man of few words. Berwald was gifted with his hands, Tino was a clumsy disaster (though his roommate would deny it with his dying breath, he knew). And it was moments like these that made Tino wonder if they pushed the boundaries, changed the dynamic of the relationship, if life with Berwald would be just as easy. He'd gotten lucky to be able to find someone as easygoing as the Swedish man to live with after the crippling student debt college gifted him with, and even with a steady job and income, he found no reason to move out. It didn't seem to bother Berwald in the slightest, even though their flat had only the two bedrooms and one bathroom and Tino always seemed to use all the hot water. Shaking his head, Tino chased the thought from his mind. **This was Berwald, silent and steady Berwald, and he wouldn't look at me that way—he's too good for me, anyway**.

"Where's Hanatamago?" Tino asked conversationally as he set about preparing peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

"Sleepin' on yer bed. Didn't wanna disturb her." Tino turned to smile brilliantly at the blonde man sitting at the table.

"You're so sweet, Ber." He must've imagined the flush.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elizabeta loves to snoop, much to the dismay of her husband and best friend. Good thing for her favorite girlfriend she's a bona fide matchmaker!!

"Liz, you better be dressed, because I'm coming in!"

Damn albino; he never gave her a moment of sleep. "One minute, _fafej_! Go bother my husband!"

Uproarious laughter shook the door. "I was, _brohaß_. Roddy said to tell you to hurry up **because** I was bothering him."

"I'm almost done, so scoot!" Footsteps slapping against the staircase let her know that Gilbert had left her alone to finish in peace. She looked down at the small white stick she held between her fingers, squinting at the symbol on the face.

Negative. Again.

With a sigh, Elizabeta tossed the test into a covered trash can and resumed wriggling into her favorite jeans. The buzzing of her cell phone on the bathroom countertop distracted her from debating on what to do with her hair. Quickly unlocking her phone and answering the call, she tucked it between chin and shoulder and began the hunt for her favorite perfume.

"Lizzie?"

" _Szia_ , Laura. Good morning!"

"Morning, pudding—I did something crazy yesterday."

"Don't leave me in suspense," Elizabeta teased, cheering silently upon finding her perfume behind the toilet.

"This guy who came into the shop with Tino—you remember Tino, right?"

"Of course, he's darling. Continue."

"Anyway, he was being really flirty so I wrote my number on his order and then hid in the kitchen until they left," Laura said breathlessly, her voice sounding a little staticky.

"They?" Even though she knew her best friend couldn't see her, Elizabeta raised her eyebrows out of habit.

"There were five of these guys, including Tino. Absolutely gorgeous, all of them. It's too bad you're married, we could've done a double date."

"Ooh, that would've been fun! Dammit, I'm getting a divorce." The two laughed; neither could see a split between Roderich and Elizabeta in any universe.

"Think he'll call?" Laura asked a little nervously.

"Hm...how about I come down and help out at the shop today and we see if he shows up?"

"This is why I love you, Elizabeta Edelstein."

"Don't worry, I know. See you soon." She hung up as more pounding sounded on the door.

"Erszébet!" If Roderich was using her Hungarian name, he was highly agitated. "Can you please hurry; Gilbert is attempting magic tricks in the kitchen again and he's already broken six eggs."

Elizabeta threw the door open, smiling in the face of a very flustered Roderich Edelstein. She lightly pecked the corner of his mouth and smiled.

"Good morning, _szerelmem_ ," she said quietly, her hand cupping his cheek.

" _Jól nézel ki_ ," Roderich said back, resting his face more securely against her palm. He knew she adored it when he spoke in Hungarian, since it was her native tongue. It was a little tiresome for him sometimes, having been born in Austria, but he'd moved to Hungary when he was 13 and had no problem carrying on fluent conversations as long as it made her happy.

"You say that everyday," Elizabeta said laughingly, pulling away and heading to the stairs.

"Oh, barf! Keep the couple stuff upstairs, will you? I'm trying to wow the cat!"

"Johanna is going to cough a hairball on our pillows tonight," Elizabeta groaned, trotting down the teak wooden steps. Roderich, who was a musical prodigy, had named the cat after Johann Sebastian Bach—something Gil loved to laugh about.

"Gilbert Beillschmidt, if you drop one more egg on that cat I'll call Ludwig myself!"

" _Lahm_! You're no fun, Lizzie." Said no-fun woman entered the kitchen with her hands on her hips, glaring at the German man who roomed with her and her husband. A white and ginger cat streaked past her out of the room.

"I'm not cleaning up after you," she threatened, pointing to the eggs splattered on the tile and counters. "And what the hell did you do to the salt?" The entire contents of the shaker were spread across the countertop in snowy mountains.

"That disappearing salt trick; I broke the shaker, sorry."

"Gilbert! That was my mother's!"

"Is that why you kept that stupid thing? I always thought you were too classy to have chicken shaped salt and pepper shakers."

Elizabeta threw her hands in the air. "I'm going to the living room." She turned on her heel to march from the room. "Gilbert, if this is not cleaned up and I do not get my coffee, I will throw your belongings into the street." She announced over her shoulder, gliding past Roderich with a light touch of his shoulder.

"Liza, don't forget, they want everyone at the firm bringing their families along for the picnic next week," Roderich called. "I hear Ivan is bringing that friend of yours, the preschool teacher? She's his sister."

"Katyusha! Oh, it'll be lovely to see her. I'll have to give her a call and have her get some gossip for me from Tino at lunch; one of his friends is sweet on Laura."

Gilbert poked his head around the door frame. "Tino's the one from the café, right? First grade teacher? Tiny and blond?"

"That'd be him—now finish cleaning my kitchen!" For the second time in half an hour, Elizabeta whipped out her phone and scrolled until she found Katyusha's contact. She settled herself on the couch in her living room as it dialed.

"Hello?" A throaty Ukrainian accent carried over the line.

"Kat? It's Liz—"

"One moment," Katyusha murmured. " _Natalya! De ty poklav telefon zaryadnyy prystriy_?"

Elizabeta smiled against the screen in amusement, listening to a brief exchange in Ukrainian before Kat's syrupy English returned.

"Apologies, Liza. Natalya appears to have taken my phone charger again and I usually charge it while the kids are doing crafts through lunch break."

"That's just what I wanted to talk to you about," Elizabeta said cheerfully. "It would appear our little Laura has grown bold on us—she gave a friend of Tino's her number. Would you mind terribly, during your lunch break, just pulling him aside and scoping out the situation?" Elizabeta could practically hear Kat's smile.

"Oh, we are matchmaking? Of course I'll help. Ivan mentioned needing Natalya and I to come to a family picnic for the firm next week, are you going?"

"I will be there, and I **will** scope out a suitable husband for you. Or wife. I don't hate."

"Liza! There's no need. I'm perfectly fine. I really have to go, I'll be late for the children..."

"Of course, of course. Call me later!"

"Certainly. _Do pobachennya_!" The line went dead.

"You sound like you're up to no good," Roderich commented, walking into the living room with a cup of coffee. He handed it to her wordlessly, smirking.

Elizabeta blew some steam from over the rim of her mug, eyes glittering with mischief. "Aren't I always?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eeeee, I updated late!! I'm sorry! But here you go, Elizabeta and the crowd! Hope you all are excited for the next chapter, and the next round of introductions! For all translations I used Google Translate, so I hope nobody is offended; please correct me if I'm wrong!
> 
> Fafej: Bastard (Hungarian)  
> Brohaß: Bro (German)  
> Szia: Hello (Hungarian)  
> Szerelmem: darling, my love (Hungarian)  
> Jól nézel ki: You look beautiful (Hungarian)  
> Lahm: Lame (German)  
> De ty poklav telefon zaryadnyy prystriy: Where did you put my phone charger? (Ukrainian)  
> Do pobachennya: Goodbye (Ukrainian)

**Author's Note:**

> Wow, a multi-chapter Hetalia fic!!! I'm really excited about this one, more than you could possibly know!! I'll try to update every two weeks or so!!
> 
> Translations:  
> Broeder: brother, Belgian  
> Kære: dear, Danish


End file.
